Sketchbook Diary
by TheWanderingMiko
Summary: An A.U. written by my roleplay partner EikouNekoChan and I on roleplaygateway dot com. Katara is a girl trapped in an arranged engagement, Zuko is an antisocial dock hand wishing for something better. Could they end up being just what the other needs?
1. Chapter 1

Katara sat boredly in the drawing room of her parent's house trying desperately not to look at the strange younger man that she was being signed away to as he hadn't looked away from her with that naive little smile since they'd entered into the same room. Marriage had never been something that Katara had aspired for, it wasn't something that she really wanted, what she really wanted wast to draw; to have her illustrations, something that she created published for the world to see. As it stood right now, she really didn't see any way that this marriage would help her.

"It was wonderful seeing you again!", her mother stated brightly to the strange boy's mother, giving the woman a kiss on the cheek that was as full of fake emotion as Katara's smile was full of fake enthusiasm. When her parents turned to her, she almost forgot to stand, doing so rushedly and trying not to look as disinterested as she felt as she curtsied towards the boy. His mother smiled at him and elbowed him slightly.

"Aang", she heard her hiss before the boy gave a hurried and awkward bow before being ushered out the door by his mother.

"He's a nice boy", her mother said lightly once they'd gone, Katara rolled her eyes and walked away, "He is!", the woman called after her. She heard her father speak softly as she left the room.

"I'm telling you, you're rushing her into this...", her mother sighed and snorted lightly.

"It's for her own good." Katara realy didn't care, once that car was out of the driveway, she was on her way to her room to get her sketchbook and then out the door.

The docks were her escape, in the midst of it's hustle and bustle of coming and going ships, she stood out like a sore thumb as she sat on the steps of the main office but she hardly cared. The scenes were beautiful, you just had to look harder to see it. Her sketchbook was brimming with pictures of the dock, ships, crates, scenery, and people; it was the place that inspired her the most, not because of any one element but because of all of the elements wrapped into one large package. The docks seemed to have a pulse of its own; it lived and breathed all on its own and she just loved to capture it.

Sitting herself down in her usual place, she turned to a new page in her book and started to sketch a gaggle of men playing cards just a little ways down the way. Perhaps they were too old to work, perhaps they were just taking a break, she didn't know but her mind made a story for them as she hovered tentatively over the paper.

"Hey Zuko, look! That girl's there again.", Zuko was helping a crate down from a pulley system when Jet yelled from his place holding the rope, nodding his head when the dark haired boy looked up as he couldn't point without dropping the crate. "Man, she makes doing this job a little more bearable" Zuko rolled his eyes and went back to helping the crate into it's space on the stack. "Wonder if I could get a date with her.", Jet mused, tapping his chin with one hand halfway forgetting the rope.

The crate fell the last few feet and Zuko had to jump out of the way.

"Hey! Watch it!", he snapped, wanting desperately to either hit or throw something at the playboy but unable to do either. "Pay attention to what you're doing would ya?!" The other boy smiled lightly at his friend, if Zuko hadn't known him better he almost could have believed that he truly was sorry...almost.

Jet was the kind of man to get rid of any of his competition for a lady's attention in any way that he could and Zuko really wouldn't have put it past him to drop a crate on any man who even looked at the same girl with the intention of claiming her as a prize. It was a damn good thing that Zuko wasn't looking because if he had been he probably would have been dead by now.

Before long, the two dock-hands had gotten back to work. Zuko's mistake, though, was not switching places with his coworker. He noticed Jet's eyes straying off in the direction of 'that girl' quite often. Also, when they actually started to lower the next crate, Zuko found himself having to nag Jet quite a bit more. With the crate nearly lowered into place, Zuko saw Jet's eyes stray once again and his hands slacken.

"Hey!" He shouted, moved out of the way just before the crate fell and crushed his feet. He let out a yell of frustration and kicked the wooden side of the cargo that had nearly crushed him. This gave Jet a start and gave his eyes a new distraction.

"C'mon, Zuko. You don't have to be like that-"

"You nearly crushed me again because of that stupid girl!" He took a look over the girl, drawing innocently not too far off. Little did she know how much trouble she was causing. Well, she could just go find a new place to draw her stupid little pictures.

He began to march over to her spot, and he soon heard Jet following him.

"Zuko, don't take it out on her!" The brown-haired young man took a hold of Zuko's arm.

"Since when are you mister chivalry? When it comes to girls, you're such a whack job." He jerked away and marched up in front of this girl who was busy sketching something out on her paper. He was about to speak when she looked up to get another look at whatever she was drawing and noticed him looming over her.

"Umm, can I help you?"

"No, no, no. He's fine, right Zuko?" Jet took his scarred friend by the arm again and tried to pry him away. Unfortunately not much can stop Zuko when he gets into one of his moods. Jet said it was one of the reasons the Asian didn't have a girlfriend. But then again, Jet said there were many reason why he didn't have a girlfriend.

"No, I'm not," Zuko replied firmly, shaking off his friend and glaring back to the young woman. Her blue eyes were like the ocean itself and it took Zuko a bit off guard for a moment. He shook it off and finished, "You need to go find some other place to draw your silly pictures."

The glare that came over Katara's face at the rude boy's declaration was one that rivaled Zuko's in fierceness; putting down her sketch pad with it's half drawn picture of the boy and her pencil, she stood and put her hands on her hips.

"Excuse me? Since when were you the boss?", she asked incredulously, Zuko glared at her.

"You don't belong here!", he snapped, the brunette leaned close to him so that she was almost nose to nose, her glare still on her face as she poked him in the chest with one finger, her other hand staying planted on her hip.

"Who are you to tell me where I belong?!", she hissed, "I have already talked to the dock master and he's told me I can stay as long as I don't go past this stoop; which I haven't!"

The brunette's icey blue eyes met his without fear- a first for him. She opposed him openly and didn't seem the least bit intimidated my his scarred, angry face. Zuko found his mind beginning to get distracted by her looks. Mentally shaking himself out of it he suddenly understood why she distracted Jet so much. He came out of it more irate than before, now at himself as well for being so immature.

"You don't belong here!" He replied to her inquiry. She responded by glaring and poking him in the chest. He didn't appreciate being poked.

"Who are you to tell me where I belong?! I have already talked to the dock master and he's told me I can stay as long as I don't go past this stoop; which I haven't!"

Zuko reacted without thinking and swatted her hand away rather violently. It sounded like it must've stung; it stung on the back of his hand. He took a deep breath to cool down a bit- this was a girl he was dealing with after all. So he made an attempt to reply in a more civilized manner.

"You're being distracting. You come down here from your fancy, expensive house, in your fancy, frilly clothes and you don't expect to get noticed?! I nearly got squashed twice back there because you were distracting him!" He held up two fingers to her face before pointing at a now embarrassed Jet. So much for being civilized. "I actually work, as opposed to that lazy bum who calls himself the dock master-"

"Zuko" Jet tried to interrupt. The teen shook him off.

"I know what goes on around here and I know whether you're sitting on this freaking stoop is gonna bother anyone!"

"Zuko!" Jet tried again. Zuko turned on his heel and yelled his reply.

"What?!" It was too late. Standing not more than a few feet away was the 'lazy bum who called himself the dock master', Zhao. Zuko cringed at his stupidity and froze in place.

"Perhaps you'd like to explain to me what the problem is here, Zuko" The Dock Master spoke up in a calm, yet assertive tone, gesturing to the young woman Zuko had picked a fight with while keeping his eyes on the hotheaded, young Asian.

Suddenly realizing that her hot headedness might just cost this boy his job, Katara bit down any want of letting the boy get yelled at and jumped in, stepping between Zhao and Zuko so that she was the one under that dangerous gaze.

"Excuse me, sir?", Zhao looked at her curiously, his look somehow softening, probably becuase she was a woman and not a man; she hated it when men looked at her like that, they seemed to think that she couldn't do anything. Well she would just show him what she could do. "This was my fault", she said suddenly, "this young man asked me to leave and I got defensive, I shouldn't have snapped at him but you see I am terribly sore from sitting here and it made me irritable."

Zhao watched her and seemed to consider the story, it looked like he bought it well enough, another perk and drawback to being female, men thought you couldn't lie...

"Very well, Katara, I expect you to next time hold your temper or I shall not allow you down here again, as it is your mother doesn't like that I do...", she looked past the brunette and gave Zuko and Jet a stern look. "You two, get back to work." Then he turned and left, leaving all of them there in silence; Katara held her body stiff until he'd vanished into his office, only relaxing once he'd gone. Sighing slightly she started gathering her stuff to leave; she would have to find another place to draw her portraits, which was sad because the one she'd been working on had started out so nice. Well at least until her subject had opened his mouth.

"This was my fault, this young man asked me to leave and I got defensive, I shouldn't have snapped at him but you see I am terribly sore from sitting here and it made me irritable."

Zuko stopped cold and looked at the girl as she suddenly leapt to his defense. What did she think she was doing? He was perfectly used to dealing with Zhao's crap- he and the dockmaster clashed frequently, which often led to extra work. His angry gaze softened to one of simple shock, until Zhao began to look him and Jet over while considering the validity of the young woman's story. His face instinctively hardened again until the dockmaster had made up his mind.

"Very well, Katara, I expect you to next time hold your temper or I shall not allow you down here again, as it is your mother doesn't like that I do... You two, get back to work." Zhao made his decision and returned to his office in a small building not too far off.

Zuko's dark eyes were drawn over to the young woman's direction soon after by a sigh as she began to pack her things. He opened his mouth to say something, but then stopped. He really didn't know what to say. What could he say after the chick he'd just insulted turned around and saved his butt? The only one who currently stood up for him like that was Uncle.

"Hey, Miss! I'm sorry you had to do that," Zuko had to look up as Jet rushed over to the girl and began to help her pack her things before Zuko could do anything. The scarred youth brought his palm to his face. Jet was such a flirt. Jet continued, "Zuko can be pretty rude at times."

"Hey Miss! I'm sorry you had to do that", Katara gave the boy that had come to deter the scarred one's request for her to leave a glance and accepted his help, "Zuko can be pretty rude at times." the boy continued; Katara cracked a smile and spoke without thinking about just what she was saying.

"I suppose it makes up for his pretty face...", she said lightly, gathering quite a few things into her arms before moving to put them in the bag. She'd probably said something that he could have taken as an insult with the scar that was on his face, but in the end what did they know about her? Any reason that they could be mad at her for being here she could counteract with her reasoning, she was here to hold onto her freedom, here to be herself where she couldn't elsewhere.

Jet cast Zuko a worried look at the girl's comment, obviously worried that they would get into another fight over it.

Picking up her pencils Katara found she couldn't hold everything in her arms to arrange them in her bag and sighed again before setting down the open sketchpad with Zuko's portrait in it. It was only about halfway finished, she'd laid the solid lines laid onto the paper but she hadn't shaded it at all; still it was very clearly recognizable as the oriental boy.

"I suppose it makes up for his pretty face..." The young woman's reply was quick but her eyes said she soon realized the gravity of her statement. Zuko didn't know whether to be insulted or not, as she'd clearly spoken without thinking. Zuko closed his eyes and breathed deeply, hoping it would mollify the offense he instinctively took towards her statement. It helped, like his uncle said it would, but not by much. Zuko's hands remained balled into fists as his eyes opened again.

Jet cast him a worried look, and though the Asian's eyes screamed otherwise, he shook his head to show his friend that he was going to let that one pass. While the scar on his was a sore spot, he was sick and tired of getting into a fight every time an insult was jabbed at it.

His friend, regardless of whether he believed Zuko or not, soon turned back to the young lady to help her with her belongings. The brown-haired youth stopped short when he saw the open sketch-pad lying there with his co-worker's likeness on the open page. His first thought was "She's a pretty good artist", his next thought was, "how's Zuko gonna take that?".

Zuko had noticed the sketch soon after she'd set the pad down. Even he didn't know how to react. Without much explanation, though, his face softened. His hands followed suit, the fingers falling limp at his sides.

The image was rough and unfinished, though it was well-done. The lines simply portrayed Zuko as he worked; not doing anything extraordinary, but the way she'd captured him made him look semi-normal. A normal person doing his job. Honestly it wasn't what Zuko thought everyone saw when they looked at him. It really wasn't even what he was when he looked at himself. For her to have seen past the scar...Well, it meant a lot to him.

"You can come back tomorrow," Zuko said, cold tone in his voice. He didn't want her to see how much of an impact the stupid drawing had. Nor did he was Jet to see; then he'd really never live it down. "I just need a break from having my co-worker drop crates on me because he's too busy looking at some girl,"

"You can come back tomorrow…I just need a break from having my co-worker drop crates on me because he's too busy looking at some girl", Katara looked at the oriental boy in surprise as she finished gathering her bag and sketchbook into her arms and standing. She almost asked why he'd changed his mind but then thought better of it.

"Perhaps I could stay if your co-worker could keep his mind on his job instead of in the sheets", she said lightly, understanding why the offensive man wouldn't want a crate dropped on him; she wouldn't want one dropped on her either. Giving something of a polite curtsy; she turned and walked away, leaving the two men to their work.

When she was gone, a long moment of silence passed before Zuko turned to Jet and smirked; he'd just been told off and he knew it.

"Just shut up", the brunette snapped before turning and heading back to work.

"He was so rude to me Ty Lee…", Katara said as she pulled her archery bow tight and let the arrow fly; the acrobat smiled at her lightly, standing on her head.

"If he was so rude, why do you keep going on an on about him?", she asked; Katara stopped for a moment before she aimed another shot, an assistant having retrieved the arrow.

"I'm not", she said indignantly before silence over took them and the brunette returned to her practice; a long moment passed and Ty Lee watched her. "I just don't understand why he had to be so rude" Ty Lee rolled with laughter as her friend pulled back yet another shot.

"Katara I think you like him", the arrow missed the target and the girl turned to her friend in shock.

"Excuse me?", Ty Lee shrugged, her grin still in place.

"I'm just saying…with the way you keep talking about him…" Katara placed an indignant hand on her hip.

"I do not like him!", the acrobat grinned and held up her hands innocently.

"Alright, alright, my mistake…", the brunette shook her head at the acrobat and aimed another shot; she didn't like him, she couldn't have, she'd just met him and he hadn't been at all polite to her. The only nice thing that he'd done was tell her that she could come back the next day and that couldn't really be counted because she would have showed up whether or not he'd said she could anyway.

'I do not like him', she told herself sternly.

After his statement, the girl gave him a look of surprise. Zuko wasn't surprised in the least. He'd been a tremendous jerk and a look like that was to be expected. It was his was of withdrawing his anger- even if a prissy rich-chick really shouldn't be hanging around the docks.

"Perhaps I could stay if your co-worker could keep his mind on his job instead of in the sheets", The girl replied, standing up straight with all of her things finally gathered. The Asian had to stifle a laugh, as the young woman said the insult with such a straight face- and with a fire in those vivid blue eyes of her's. Afterwards, she gave a polite curtsy and began her early walk home.

Not a word passed Zuko's lips. He simply turned and gave Jet a smirk that was the silent equivalent to "Man, she showed you!"

Jet simply glared and replied with a "Just shut up" before heading back for the crates they were moving earlier. Zuko just gave a laugh. He was just mad that a girl didn't fall for him this time.

--------------

"Good! You're home! I just made a pot of tea and I didn't want it to get cold before you got home," The teen was greeting almost immediately after walking across the threshold into his apartment by his uncle.

He'd lived with Uncle Iroh ever since his father kicked him out several years ago. At first he'd resented living anywhere but home with his father and sister; he'd been a disgrace to the family, so his father said. It wasn't like there was much to disgrace; the family had only immigrated a couple of generations ago and really didn't have much here. All the same, it was a mentally scarring blow to be disowned by your father.

Over time, Iroh filled the position of father for him, which made the experience far more bearable- however eccentric the old man could be. And thinking back to all of the abuse his sister used to give him- she was very much her father's child- Zuko came to prefer living here more and more as the days went on.

"You know I get home at this time every day, Uncle," Zuko replied as he took off his shoes. This was followed by a removing of his wallet from his pocket before flopping down on the couch nearby.

"Ah, yes, but this is a new tea I bought today! One of those European teas the English are so fond of." Uncle had a fascination with teas, if you couldn't tell already. He wasn't a terribly exciting person; he liked pretty much everything an old immigrant from China should like: Tea, board games, and a good day's work. Iroh had a good sense of humor, though, and personality that grew on you. Zuko couldn't help but to smile and shake his head a bit at the elderly man's joy over a new tea.

"I sure hope it wasn't expensive." Was Zuko's only verbal reply.

"Oh, no, no, no! It was actually cheaper than the teas I usually buy. It would seem that it is quite a bit easier for most people to get one's hands on European teas than Asian- unless of course one knows where to look…" Zuko let his Uncle ramble on about his adventure today in finding said tea as he prepared to bring the tea into the apartment's small sitting room.

The teen couldn't help being reminded of the one significant event of his day as his enthused uncle told his story. Memories of the girl with the blue eyes and the loud voice returned to his mind, quickly followed by the memory of the sketch she'd begun to draw of him. Unbidden, he let out a sigh. This triggered an abrupt end to his uncle's story.

"Is something on your mind, Zuko?" Why did Uncle have to notice everything?

"It's nothing really,"

"Clearly it's not," Iroh prodded, a knowing smile on his face, "Simple weariness doesn't usually warrant such a sigh,"

"Just a little excitement on the docks today," Zuko sat up and gave a shrug, "Jet's wandering eyes just nearly got me killed, but whatever," Iroh shook his head a bit. He'd heard about Jet's girl-friendly ways before, and of his willingness to get rid of those between him and a prospective girlfriend. But then his eyebrows rose in realization.

"That means you and him had eyes on the same girl!" He faced his nephew with a grin on his face from ear to ear. "What was she like?"

"I wasn't even looking at her, Uncle. He wasn't paying attention while we were moving crates because his eyes were glued on her," He hated when his Uncle got like this. Boy, would he like it of Zuko finally got a girlfriend. His last one was just a year after being kicked out of house and home and it had ended badly due to the hours Zuko made himself work. The girl, Mai, simply wanted too much of his time.

"It wouldn't happen to be the wealthy girl who's been coming to the docks to draw, would it?" Iroh prodded again, grinning as wide as ever. Zuko's eyes widened with shock. How the heck did he know about her? "Oh! So it was!"

"So what if it was her? Jet was the one who was interested. How the heck did you find out about her, anyways?"

"Heard about her yesterday when I was talking with Zhao-"

"You were talking with him?! What the heck for?" Zhao hated him, and the only reason he still had that job was because he was willing to work more hours than some of the grown men and he did a better job than some of them, too.

"He wanted to have tea. Besides, he had some very good things to say about your work in resent weeks. He also plays a mean game of Mahjong!"

Zuko put a palm to his face and lay back down on the couch. "Yeah, and I'm as much a ladies man as Jet! Jhao hates me. It was a miracle I didn't get punished when he caught me yelling at Miss Priss today-"

"'Miss Priss'? The girl? You yelled at her?! Whatever for?" His uncle seemed very shocked and confused. Zuko gave a huff and relayed the story, omitting the part about how she'd been drawing him when he'd interrupted her. During the whole thing, his uncle sat and sipped his new tea, occasionally nodding in approval of its taste.

"Perhaps you should have apologized yourself instead of letting Jet apologize for you," Iroh commented after the story was over.

"I wasn't particularly sorry! She has no reason to be sitting at the docks drawing. She should go to some park where she won't stand out so much," This only yielded a smile and a slight chuckle from his elder. "What?"

Iroh simply sipped his tea and shrugged as if he wasn't thinking anything, but from the look in his eyes Zuko could tell what he was thinking. He thought Zuko was interested in that prissy know-it-all! He sighed and got up to go to his bedroom in an attempt to get some privacy. His uncle spoke up just before he left the room, though.

"Zhao says her name is Katara,"

"Zhao also tells me that when you yelled at her, she yelled right back at you...A lady doesn't raise her voice without reason", Iroh took another sip of his tea, looking down at it as though it might have held some life changing secrets within it's murky brown depths, but all that was really there was the bottom of the cup. "Zuko...", the older man smiled gently, "perhaps- instead of centering your attention on what tragedies this girl's presence is bequeathing upon you; you should ask yourself why a woman like her feels it is necessary to sit on the stairs of a dock house all day to draw. From what Zhao says, this girl wants for nothing, what is it that the docks give her that she can't get anywhere else?" And with that, the argument was done; Iroh returned to his tea and allowed his nephew to leave without any further badgering.

--------------

Katara was brushing her hair, looking at her sketchbook which she'd laid open to the half done portrait of Zuko, when her mother came into her bedroom. It was late and she'd already gotten into her dressing gown as she sat at her vanity table; she'd had to bathe after practice in hopes of getting the smell of the docks from her before immediately sending her clothes down with a maid to be washed before her mother had a chance to find them. Being secretive had never really been something that she'd enjoyed but she knew that her mother would never understand; hell, no one in her family would understand, not even her brother Sokka.

"Katara...", the brunette looked at her mother in the mirror, watching as she paced up behind her, relieved her of the hairbrush she was holding and proceeded to gently brush the knots from her long brown hair. "What's this...?"

When her mother reached for her sketchbook, Katara quickly reached for it, picking it up and closing it before putting it in an open drawer that it had come from. She closed said drawer without a word, knowing that it's closure told her mother that it was not something to be asked about again; her mother had long since pressed the issue as to her daughter telling her everything, she'd left that up to a nanny since the girl was small. Not to say that the woman wasn't a loving mother but ever since this engagement had been pushed forward, there was a distance between them that would not be easily overcome.

As the girl put the sketchbook away, her mother sighed lightly and went back to brushing the teenager's hair, being careful not to pull too hard at the ends.

"You can't be cross with me forever about this Katara", she said simply; Katara's retort was a slight scoff.

"Oh you think so, do you?", the hairbrush was set down on the vanity table before the girl was grabbed by the shoulders and not roughly but not gently turned to look at her mother.

"Katara, I realize that this isn't what you wanted, it's not what you'd hoped for and it's certainly not what you think you need, but I can promise you..it is what's best for you." Getting up the girl glared.

"I suppose it's easy for you to say that, isn't it...", she said lowly before bending to get her sketchbook from the drawer, stepping around her mother and pacing into the small offshoot of the room that housed her bed and balcony. Closing the door behind her, she locked it, having no intention of leaving the room or letting anyone else in until morning. She didn't need to get yelled at by her mother for mouthing off, nor did she need to listen to her father trying to tell her to understand that her mother only wanted what was best for her or her older brother who wasn't being pushed into marrying anyone because he had a fiance that things weren't so bad.

What did Sokka know anyway? He was marrying for love; everyone in the family adored Suki, herself included; he wasn't being signed off to a rich little greenhorn who didn't know the first thing about girls and obviously had no mind of his own to go along with this. She stopped then, hugging her sketchbook tighter to her chest as she paced to the balcony and sat on the railing; in all truth she didn't know if the boy was going along with it because he wanted to or if he was like her and only putting on a polite face when the situation called for it. For all she knew he could be just as opposed to this as she was, though she doubted that because if he was it wasn't likely that this marriage would even have been proposed if that were the case.

"Why me?", she asked the night sky above her, "What did I do to deserve this?", hugging her sketchbook a little tighter she returned inside, closing the balcony doors behind her and skittering into bed, her sketchbook still hugged tight to her. It was just like that, that she fell asleep.

Zuko paused for a moment at the exit of the room. A slight smile lifted corner of his lips. Katara. It was fitting name.

"Zhao also tells me that when you yelled at her, she yelled right back at you...A lady doesn't raise her voice without reason", A hand on the wall, Zuko himself looked downward to think on this a bit. She had gotten really defensive…

"Zuko…" The boy looked back to his Uncle, who was now smiling at him. "perhaps- instead of centering your attention on what tragedies this girl's presence is bequeathing upon you; you should ask yourself why a woman like her feels it is necessary to sit on the stairs of a dock house all day to draw. From what Zhao says, this girl wants for nothing. What is it that the docks give her that she can't get anywhere else?"

After, Iroh made no move to continue, so Zuko walked the short distance down the hall to his bedroom. Shutting the door behind him, he flopped onto his bed and stared out the window just over his bed. He didn't have much of a view, but from the angle he caught from lying just under the window, he didn't have to look at much of the city. His eye line was fixed on the sky, now a midnight violet from the waning hues of sunset. All over the city, men were coming home from work- and some were going out for night shifts, as Zuko sometimes did.

Sometimes Zuko wished life didn't revolve so much around work. Without work, one didn't have money to eat. Without work, one couldn't pay the rent. And with Iroh unemployed, Zuko was very lucky not to be working night shift tonight to make ends meet (the old man had a stash of money saved up in case one of them got fired, as he did). It took so much to get anything he wanted.

The mood of his thoughts darkened as he remembered the reason for his situation. He remembered the face of his father, who appeared to have no love for him. He'd been obsessed with his work; only wanted to get higher in the corporate ladder. And when he got home every night, he only had eyes for Zuko's younger sister, Azula- who was somehow better than him in almost everything.

It didn't help that their mother had disappeared one day. Things were fine before that, because his mother acted like any respectable parent should. She loved both of her children, and while she spent time with Azula, she spent more time with Zuko to make up for the lack of time his father spent with him. Azula said it was because he was stupid and needed more help with his homework, but she was just jealous that mom loved him for not being perfect.

Then one night, while the children slept, she just up and vanished. Azula said she'd heard dad come home late, drunk and angry with Zuko's name on his lips. But instead of a trauma for Zuko, as there'd been a few times before, his mother was gone. And then life went downhill. From that point on, Zuko could do nothing right even though he'd honestly tried his best. His grades weren't good enough, he didn't do well enough in sports, and even his friends were dissatisfactory.

One night when his father got home late, Zuko had tried to cook but only succeeded in setting a small portion of the kitchen on fire. Unfortunately for him, his father was late because he'd been at the bar again. Azula simply went to hide just out of sight while Zuko's father brought down his anger. When Zuko tried to defend himself against the blows, it just made the whole thing worse. Eventually, Ozai took fire to his face, 'seeing as Zuko liked fire so much, he wouldn't mind a burned look to match'.

Zuko's eyes narrowed and he turned over to bury the burned half of his face in the sheets. Zuko wouldn't have gotten any help if it weren't for their neighbor's eldest daughter, and his future ex-girlfriend, Mai sneaking over to see what happened after everything had died down. He supposed that was why he'd gotten to know her at all; why he had any attachment to her.

The youth's thoughts suddenly took a weird turn, triggered by the entrance of the girl into his mental recount of this story. How different Katara's life must be. It was a strange thought, yes, but Zuko followed it. She lived in a nice family that had money. Her parents probably treated her well, and she'd been allowed to finish her education. Best of all, she probably did not have to work a single hour in the day. Zuko really envied her, living it up like that.

Iroh's suggestion came to mind. ' From what Zhao says, this girl wants for nothing. What is it that the docks give her that she can't get anywhere else?'. He mentally recounted how defensive she'd gotten over her little spot on the stoop. She could have simply found some place to draw, why did she make such a big deal out of it. Of course, Zuko hadn't helped with that, but that didn't stop the girl from fighting back. Most girls would have run in terror from Zuko's anger- a trait he was particularly proud of.

He then recalled Zhao's saying that her mother didn't like her down at the docks. That was expected. And boy, what would Miss Priss's mother do about that picture she'd drawn of him? Surely she'd flip her lid. Still, it didn't make sense why she'd get so defensive. Girls were so clingy, and it made no logical sense.

Zuko continued to lay there, his mind busy recounting the day's events, trying to figure out why she needed that spot so badly to draw. It definitely wasn't for him- Zuko refused to consider that far fetched possibility. He then simply recounted the event, having given up on the why for now. Katara had gone from defensive to kind in an instant. Then again, so had he. All it had taken was that stupid drawing.

Soon, the thoughts could no longer keep him awake. It made him feel silly, but as he drifted off, he hoped that Katara might have a chance to finish her drawing.


	2. Chapter 2

The docks were just as they always were when Katara arrived, a dark cloak wrapped over her pale blue dress that looked almost gray in the dim light. It was just before dawn when she sat down and huddled herself up under her large skirt and cloak, watching as the dock came to life. Workers arrived, ships pulled in and Katara could only smile as she watched; she couldn't draw until later anyway.

Zuko arrived before Jet did, she watched as he came from the direction of one of the poorer districts of town; it wasn't surprising, most of the workers here were from those districts but he didn't seem like he belonged there. Hunkering down a little when he headed towards the office to check in, she kinda hoped that he didn't notice her so that she could continue to watch him. The longer he didn't notice her, the longer she would be able to draw him without him realizing what she was doing.

"Well if it isn't the girl from yesterday!", Katara fought away a cringe as Jet's very loud declaration brought the attention of any and every passerby that was within hearing range, "Come to continue drawing?", he asked curiously. The girl gave him the same forced smile that she used when she was forced to sit through her mother's luncheons with Aang and his family; odds were he wouldn't be able to see through it, most couldn't.

"Well, if it isn't the man who drops crates on his co workers.", she greeted lightly earning an embarrassed grin from the brunette above her.

"You know, I almost expected you not to show up again after Zuko yelled at you like that", Katara kept her fake smile pasted.

"Well it takes a bit more than yelling to scare me off; I get that trait from my mother.", there was a sourness in her voice that Jet didn't seem to pick up on because he just went on grinning and talking.

"Well that's good, be glad she gave you that trait", he said, Katara nodded lightly and Jet made a big deal of checking his watch before stating that he had to go check in to his shift. She scooted a little further against the wall as he made his way around her and sighed slightly; she supposed it was both a blessing and a curse that she'd gotten her mother's stubbornness when it came to things that she wanted.

The morning air was heavy with moisture from the sea. The slight mist was cool and it felt good against Zuko's face. Mornings had to be his favorite part of the work day, except for when he got to leave of course. He strode out to where the pier met the water without any other thought than how he wanted to see the dawn on the water before he went to check in with Zhao.

However, this peace proved volatile. Before Zuko even got a chance to sit down, Jet's voice coming faintly over the moist air reminded him of their visitor. The Asian youth turned around to see Jet greeting a sort of flustered Lady Katara. But she was smiling though. Maybe Jet just caught her by surprise. It wouldn't be the first time.

Zuko made as if to take a step towards her, but stopped himself. Should he greet her? After yesterday's incident would it be smart to address her? His experience with girls was that they were unpredictably finicky. They were hard to please and they typically made life more difficult. He could simply leave Katara to draw on her stoop. It hadn't been a problem until yesterday. Of course, if he didn't at least greet her, she might take offense. Uncle would recommend a greeting, if not just to be polite. Why the heck was it so hard to make a decision?

In the end, he bit down his pride and went over, but only after Jet had left to check in. Katara seemed relieved to see Jet go. Her blue eyes looked down at her open drawing pad as she pushed her back against the stoop. She looked a little depressed. Should he say anything? Why should he care, after all? What is it that the docks give her that she can't get anywhere else? That question really bugged Zuko, and it provided him enough motive to inquire after why she looked so down.

"Um, Hey," He spoke up, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. She looked up, slightly started by his greeting. Almost as if on cue, the two looked away, avoiding eye contact. "Nice morning, huh?"

"_Nice morning"?_ Really? That's what Zuko got for not thinking about what to say before speaking. He was pretty much flying blind.

Katara felt her heart jump a little at the sound of Zuko's voice and immediately looked up just as he looked away from her; she attributed her heart's abnormal rhythm to surprise and looked him over. He looked clean, as though he'd taken a shower the night before, the dirt smears and sweat that usually marked his face when she saw him on the docks were gone and she found herself staring. Though unlike most people she wasn't staring at the scar, but the handsome young man beneath it; and he was handsome, gruff and mean yes, but handsome as well.

Catching herself, she looked away as he looked back at her, staring silently at the sunrise whose light was peeking over the ships and shipping crates that were stacked about the dock.

"Yeah...nice morning...", she smiled gently, not the same smile that she gave Jet but a true smile brought on by the peacefulness of the dock, she looked up at him her eyes catching the light just as his skin caught it. "You know...I would love to draw you up close...", she opened her sketch book to the half done drawing of him that was already there, it wasn't really a portrait, she had been only guessing on most of what was already in the picture from what she could see of him from far away. Right now...she wanted to capture the version of him that she was seeing right now; the young man above her that she was sure few saw. "Would you be against that? I would be able to pay you if you would let me..."

"Yeah...nice morning..." Katara's voice brought his eyes back to her. She sounded strangely happy. Zuko followed her line of sight and found that she'd noticed the sunrise. He smiled. Dawn on an ocean horizon really was gorgeous. His eyes went back to Katara; the smile on her face was unlike any he'd seen her give Jet. That's when he noticed that her gaze had transferred to him.

"You know...I would love to draw you up close..." She took out her sketchbook and opened to the page he'd seen yesterday, the page with the drawing of him. "Would you be against that? I would be able to pay you if you would let me..."

His eyes shot up from the drawing to her face, then back again, then away. He hadn't expected this at all, and was at a total loss of words. Zuko had figured that if she wanted to finish it, then she'd just draw the rest while he was working like she drew the rest. He hadn't expected her to ask him like this. Running his fingers through his hair, he thought about how to answer.

Katara's eyes seemed to beg him to answer yes. Zuko didn't actually see why he shouldn't oblige her. She'd offered to pay him, after all, so it would be to his benefit. And he actually did kind of want to see the picture finished…

"Umm, sure, I guess." He replied, though his face truly said just how awkward he felt about being asked to model.

Katara half expected the boy to say no, in fact she was to the point of waiting for it when his hand came up and ruffled his hair as he looked away from her, thus his words surprised her.

Umm, sure, I guess.", Katara's blue eyes widened to the point where it seemed they would pop right out of her head, her heart beat quickened and her fingers were to the point of shaking; she was glad that she had something to hold on to because it steadied them. Very slowly she stood, her skirt hiding her legs which she was sure were going to collapse right out from under her.

"Y-you mean it?", the small part of her that wasn't over taken by her elation was hoping that she didn't seem too much like a stalker; as well as pondering where she could take him to draw him. Certainly not to her home, her mother would have had a fit as Katara had met the boy while she'd been at the docks.

The rest of her was running purely on impulse and when he gave her a slow nod, she leaped on him and threw her arms around his neck in a grateful hug that she only thought twice of after she'd done it. Pulling back after a moment, she gave him an apologetic smile and hugged her sketchbook to her, blushing slightly.

"Sorry...", stepping back, she pretended to busy herself to hide the embarrassment that was rising in her; though why she was embarrassed, she wasn't sure. It didn't occur to her that there might have been some merit to the argument that TyLee had been getting at yesterday. Though if her friend had been watching her, she probably would have had more fodder for her argument by now, whether Katara realized it or not.

"Y-you mean it?" Zuko brought his eyes back to the young woman to find that she was once again standing. He nearly jumped when he saw the look of joyous shock on her face. When he glanced at her hands he noticed their shaking. Zuko, taken aback by just how happy his agreement made her, just nodded slowly.

The next thing he knew, her arms were linked around his neck and he could have sworn she let out a slight squeal of glee. He just tensed and stood there in her moment of elation. His eyes were wide in shock; the Asian was dumbfounded. He was speechless. Was getting to finish that picture so important to her? The last time a girl had hugged him like that was when he was with Mei. Simply put, he was beginning to form questions of his own, and one small part of him was asking whether she was excited, or had feelings for him.

A moment later, she was a few feet away, her slightly darkened face rosy with the heat of embarassment. She clutched her notebook close to herself as she muttered an apology. The striking blue eyes that were so eager to meet his only moments ago were now avoiding his gaze. Perhaps her outburst had surprised her as much as it had him.

"Umm..." Zuko didn't know what to say to that, but he suddenly realized that his cheeks were warm as well. Regardless, he needed to end this awkward silence. "It's alright, I mean, y'know, no harm done, and yeah..." He hated his tendency to ramble-

"Uh, Zuko, you'd better go check in," Zuko turned quickly on his heels to see Jet. He'd obviously seen Katara's little outburst, but he had that expression on his face that was indiscernable. Despite the danger this potentially presented, Jet had a point. Katara had delayed him for too long.

"He's right, I kinda have to go." He rubbed the back of his head a bit before quickly adding, "I'll plan a time with you later, alright?" and running off.

After signing in, and baring the perturbed glare of Zhao for him being a bit late, he and Jet went about their business. However, it took Jet awhile to speak at all. It took him awhile for his expression to even change. It put Zuko on edge. He didn't know whether to be scared of having Jet drop a crate on his head or irritated that his relations with girls should be determine by his co-worker. Finally he spoke up.

"Okay, spit it out!" Zuko dropped the small box he had been unloading from boat that had come in during the night. "You've been acting weird since this morning!"

Jet gave him a cool look and answered, "Nothing."

"Come on, don't lie to me? I know you saw Katara's...what-ever-that-was?"

"A hug," Jet corrected him, shaking his head and putting down his own box.

"Well..."

"It was a hug, Zuko," Jet gave him a know-it-all look,"You're so clueless."

"Seriously, what's your problem?" Zuko asked in response.

"Fine," Jet shrugged, "You asked her out. You asked her out, when you knew I had my eyes on her and she was more than happy to oblige."

That's what he thought? "No, that's not it! I didn't ask her out!"

"Really, then what will you be planning a time for?" Jet looked at him incredulously.

"She...asked me to pose so she could finish that picture," Zuko muttered, almost as if he was uncomfortable to say it out loud.

"So she asked you out."

"No! Augh!" He groaned in frustration, "She offered to pay me! It's a job, not a date."

Jet gave the flustered Zuko a long look and finally let out a chuckle while shaking his head at how clueless the Asian was with girls.

"Fine," Jet resigned, "A job. But I call the first date."

Zuko looked in the direction of Katara and thought of the genuine smile she gave him instead of Jet that morning. "Right, you have fun with that."

"Ummm...It's alright, I mean, y'know, no harm done, and yeah...", Katara finally tore her gaze from the ground-where it had been anchored since she'd pulled away from the dock hand-when he spoke; he was looking right at her and when their eyes met she wasn't sure if she was seeing things correctly in the now almost half strength sunlight. It looked like he was blushing, probably as much as she was if the heat of her cheeks were anything to judge by.

"Uh, Zuko, you'd better go check in", the blue eyed brunette was snapped out of her wonderings by the cool voice of reason-which incidentally belonged to Jet. Zuko's eyes widened marginally and he turned to see Jet standing behind him, an expressionless look on his face; a look much different from the look that he'd been giving her this morning when he'd spoken to her. The change over Zuko was instant.

"He's right, I kinda have to go", he said lightly, rubbing the back of his head a bit before quickly adding, "I'll plan a time with you later, alright?", then he ran off, leaving her with the other boy. Jet watched him go, as did she, then they both looked back at one another; the look on his face hadn't changed but somehow his eyes had. They were darker, looking her over and summing her up as though he'd misjudged her in some way before he turned and went back to work without saying a word. He didn't have to though, she could already feel the tension as she sat down and pulled a small parcel of charcoals from her bag.

"What on earth was that about?", she asked out loud, her gaze training on the loading dock and the two mens' backs briefly before turning back to her slowly developing image of the ship that they were unloading.

Jet was boiling, he could feel his anger spreading just under his skin as he watched from the moment that Katara nearly leaped onto Zuko to the moment she pulled away and they spoke again softly. Why was he so angry? That was a simple question to answer, it was because he wanted the girl for himself and, as it seemed, Zuko did too. Finally he wasn't able to watch anymore and his feet started carrying him towards them, his face glazing over with an expressionless mask that he had to concentrate to keep in place.

It was hours later when Zuko finally got the balls to say anything, a fact that he was rather proud of given the circumstances.

"Okay, spit it out!" Jet heard the soft thunk of the box that Zuko was holding hit the dock but didn't look at him, instead pretending to concentrate on what he was doing. "You've been acting weird since this morning!"

"Nothing", he answered in a cool tone, the look on his face hopefully matching; Zuko wasn't going to buy that so easily though.

"Come on, don't lie to me? I know you saw Katara's...what-ever-that-was?"

"A hug," Jet corrected, feeling his control deserting him, as though trying to keep it in place and distract himself from what was peeling it away from him, he shook his head and put down his own box before reaching for another.

"Well..."

"It was a hug, Zuko", another slip of control and Jet put down his box before giving Zuko a look that stated he knew what he was talking about and was not to be questioned. "You're so clueless."

"Seriously, what's your problem?" Zuko asked.

"Fine," Jet shrugged, trying to hold on to the single thread of composure that he had left- "You asked her out. You asked her out, when you knew I had my eyes on her and she was more than happy to oblige" -it deserted him by the end of the statement.

"No, that's not it! I didn't ask her out!"

"Really, then what will you be planning a time for?" Jet looked at him incredulously, feeling the anger dripping from his words.

"She...asked me to pose so she could finish that picture," Zuko muttered, Jet went back to unloading boxes.

"So she asked you out", potato, potahto.

"No! Augh! She offered to pay me! It's a job, not a date!"

Jet gave Zuko a long look, observing that he looked flustered and finally let out a chuckle while shaking his head at how clueless the Asian was with girls. He supposed it wasn't surprising though because as far as he could tell, the boy had never had more than one girlfriend in his entire life.

"Fine", Jet resigned, "A job. But I call the first date", then he went back to work, his anger slightly lower thanks to the slight argument but still present below his skin.

"Right, you have fun with that", they didn't speak again that day, when lunch time rolled around, Jet wandered off to his favorite sandwich stand and Zuko was left on his own.

Katara's stomach grumbled as she finished her sketch of the ships that were docked, she was trying to ignore it as she hadn't brought any food, nor had she money with her to buy food. In her mind she was telling herself that if she could just hold out, she could get out of leaving before she was needed at her archery lesson with Mei and TyLee.

Turning back to the page with the half finished picture of Zuko on it, she started to work on it once more, darkening some of the lines and adding more from her memory that she realized she'd forgotten.

This day was going much better than yesterday. Zuko had managed this new Katara business without incurring the wrath of neither young woman nor jealous coworker. He could breathe a well-deserved sigh of relief. Honestly, he hadn't had to deal with something like this since his relationship with Mei, and he was kind of glad to be rid of all of the drama. It really didn't suite him.

The Asian began to head back towards the office. Just inside its doors were a set of shelves on which the workers could leave their lunches while they were working. Of course, inside that office was also Zhao, but nothing had happened today. That usually meant Zuko could peek in, grab the lunch Uncle made for him and duck back out without consequence. Today, he had even better luck. His employer was already out for lunch himself.

When he looked around for a good place to sit and eat, it occurred to him that Katara hadn't left to eat. She hadn't even packed a lunch. It struck him as odd. It was the first time he'd noticed her there, still drawing, during lunch break. So was she going to go eat later? Or did she forget to bring food? It really wasn't good for a girl to go without, but it was even worse for a guy to let her starve when he could help her. But if Zuko helped her out it could get Jet mad again. But what if he just gave her his lunch? Uncle Iroh's food was a lot better than some of the stuff you could get down here, anyways. He pondered on it a moment and let out a sigh. As much as he was looking forward to the coming food, he'd skip it. Somehow the thought of letting Katara go without lunch had suddenly become wrong, and he just couldn't manage to convince himself otherwise.

So he headed over. With Jet at the sandwich place, he didn't really have to worry about prying eyes, but it was always better to tread lightly.

"Katara," He called her name to get her attention. Once again she seemed surprised to see him standing over her.

"Um, Zuko?"

"You haven't moved," Zuko pointed out.

"Do I normally?" Such a sarcastic response from the lady.

"Well, it's lunch time." He prodded, "Do you not have a lunch or something?"

"I was, uh…just finishing something up before going to buy something!" She spoke quickly, followed by a somewhat nervous chuckle. Zuko shook his head a bit. He sounded the same way when he was making up a lame excuse; she really had forgotten. He tossed his lunch bag over to Katara, who, startled, caught it just before it landed on the drawing pad on her lap.

"Can't fool me," He smirked a bit. "I feel bad letting a girl go hungry, so take it,"

Katara looked at the lunch briefly with a look on her face as though she wondered if it were something particularly foul before peeking inside the bag to see that it was, in fact, a myriad of delicious looking foods. He'd said he felt bad about letting a girl go hungry, but didn't that mean that he would go without now?

"Do you have money for lunch?", she asked curiously, blue eyes watching as he shook his head at her question. She smiled at the response and held up the bag, "Then rather than give me your food, why don't we share it?" It made sense to her, if they shared then neither of them would go hungry, "Besides, it will give us the opportunity to set up a time when I can draw you", she said sweetly.

She was almost sure he was going to refuse, the look on his face stated that he was going to but to her surprise-after many a minute-he relented towards her and made his way to sit down against the wall beside her. As he did, she set the food in his lap and the sketchbook she had been working out of on the ground with the small parcel that held her charcoal and pencils atop it so that the wind didn't rifle through it too much. The last thing she needed was her sketchbook being raped and all her drawings scattering to the wind and sea.

"Now then...", she began, having had given the possible places for them to meet so she could draw him some serious thought over the last few hours, "Did you have any time or day that would work best for you?" The only thing she had been able to think of was sneaking him in during her archery lesson with Mei and TyLee; Mei loved her enough she might let her, though the prospect brought with it it's own set of drawbacks such as the fact that TyLee wouldn't let her live it down for ages or might tell Suki who would in turn tell Sokka who might confront her about it or worse tell her parents.

She was pretty sure that she could find some way to buy off TyLee's silence, whether that payment be letting her torture her about her mythical like of the young man or letting her have that dress that she always liked out of her chifferobe.

"Do you have money for lunch?" Katara asked after looking into the bag he'd just passed her. Zuko honestly shook his head. She smiled and suggested, "Then rather than give me your food, why don't we share it? Besides, it will give us the opportunity to set up a time when I can draw you."

He couldn't deny her logic, and if it was just up to him, then he wouldn't be so worried. But he had Jet to consider. If Jet found him here sharing his food with Katara then he'd flip. Zuko looked at Katara, eyeing him sweetly, not wanting him to go hungry just like he'd not wanted her to go hungry. His eyes darted in the direction of the sandwich stand, and then back to Katara. Even though he figured he'd regret it later, he sat down next to her.

The moment he did she put the food in his lap and set her sketchpad and charcoal down on the ground beside her. "Now then, did you have any time or day that would work best for you?"

Zuko peered into the bag in his lap and began pulling out the containers of rice, vegetables and morsels of chicken. Uncle had a habit of separating the various meal components into different containers. Zuko said it was a waste of water to wash all of them, but the old man insisted that it was therapeutic. Zuko would never believe him.

"Umm," He mumbled as he thought about time for the first time. "I guess and day after work…And just about any Saturday. I don't work on Saturdays, and I figure Uncle won't mind too much if I actually plan something on my day off for once."

Katara smiled at his statement, vaguely wondering why he'd said "uncle" and not "father" before she spoke.

"You don't live with your mother and father?", it was a rather unusual circumstance so she supposed that he couldn't hate her for her curiosity but the moment she said it she regretted it. The look that came over him at the mention of them somehow told her that it was not a subject to be tread lightly on. Maybe his mother and father were dead, maybe he'd never had any, that was very possible. Who was she to ask these questions anyway? She wasn't his friend, the only reason he was even sitting with her and sharing his lunch with her was because she was paying him to let her draw him. Now she wanted to apologize but she didn't have the opening; so she changed the subject.

"Um, I have archery lessons every day, you could come with me and I could draw you there, if you want…", she said quickly, accepting the chicken he had offered to her before she'd asked the offending question and looking away. "Or the carnival that's coming to town next week, we could arrange a time during that…unless you were going to it with someone because if you are I would never dream of ruining your evening." She couldn't imagine that this boy didn't have some form of date for the spectacle, as much of a jerk as he was. He could be nice, if he couldn't he wouldn't have been sharing his food with her. She was sure that he had a few local girls lined up to go with him, and it wasn't like she was asking him there on a date or anything...so why did she feel so awkward about it?

Chancing another glance at him out of the corner of her eye, she looked away quickly but not before he realized she was looking at him.

"Sorry…", she mumbled softly looking out towards the ship only to catch sight of Jet glaring at her. But why was he glaring at her? What had she done? He looked her over from where he was standing, half a stride back to the ship with a napkin and a sandwich; his eyes somehow cold. "I'm sorry", she repeated quickly, putting the still untouched chicken down on the remains of the paper bag and moving to get up only to be stopped by a hand grasping her own.

"You don't live with your mother and father?" Katara asked lightly. She had no idea the gravity of the question she'd just asked. Zuko's whole expression sobered just thinking about it. The memories of his circumstances made him feel like his scar stood out more than ever. It was just a psychological trick of the mind, but it made him lower his head a bit anyways. Now he fought with himself about whether or not he wanted to tell her any stretch of the painful story.

"Um, I have archery lessons every day, you could come with me and I could draw you there, if you want…", She'd obviously seen the effects of the question and had decided to change the subject, "Or the carnival that's coming to town next week, we could arrange a time during that…unless you were going to it with someone because if you are I would never dream of ruining your evening."

Why would he have a date? Sure, his Uncle might make him go with him to this silly little carnival, but he hadn't had any sort of girlfriend for awhile. These surfacing thoughts of Mei didn't help with the dour mood brought on by Katara's earlier question.

Trying to shake this off, he looked back up at Katara to answer, but her eyes darted away before they'd made eye contact for more than a second. The Asian was confused even further when she appeared somewhat shocked at what she saw and said "I'm sorry,".

He followed her line of sight to find the source of her unhappiness. As Zuko had feared, Jet had caught them. He glared at Zuko for taking the 'first date', who was just close enough to the young woman for him to appear to be glaring at her. For someone who preached kindness towards women, he sure wasn't being so considerate right now.

Katara began to get up, muttering another apology. Without thinking, Zuko reached out and took her hand, forcing her to look back. Those icy eyes of hers showed both worry and shock. Zuko stood and looked somewhat defiantly over in Jet's direction before replying to one of Katara's earlier questions.

"I don't have plans. Either one of those sounds good," He answered honestly. And honestly, Zuko had never felt this kind of need to defy the whims of his jealous coworker. Katara wasn't the first girl to take interest in him since Mei, but she was the first one to want to actually see him. And he was tempted to let her.

Katara absorbed his reply, noting that he seemed to be speaking more to the boy that was glaring at them than to her, before giving a penchant grin and looking at the ground. She had a feeling that this was his way of defending her against the other boy's sudden disapproval of her; and for that she was thankful.

"Um...alright, well you can come to my archery lesson today..." Taking her hand back she bent and flipped through her sketch book for a blank piece of paper and scribbled down the address. Her lessons were at a training field that Mei's family owned and that was the address that she scribbled down in loopy cursive in charcoal on the paper before handing it off to him. Her hand brushed his during the exchage, her soft fingers brushing from his wrist halfway down his hand; they were rougher than hers, calloused and weathered. "You're welcome to walk with me if you're off work before I have to go, but if you're not that's the address."

She looked up at him, her eyes connecting with his golden ones briefly, her smile slowly fading into a blank look as realization came over her. This young man had to work for everything that he had, he had to work harder than she ever had or ever would and for some reason that got to her. She'd always known that he'd had to work, everyone at the docks had to work, she was a rarity here; perhaps she'd just been taking that for granted.

He probably needed the money that she offered him much more than she did. Perhaps for bills that needed to be payed or for the food and water that was essential for him to survive. Glancing down at her sketchpad she noted mentally that it had cost three dollars for the set, quite a bit of money for something so small. Zuko probably didn't have the spare money for things like archery lessons or drawing pads and she knew he didn't have the free time to sit on a dock and draw all day like she did. Even being signed away she would never want for anything; she would always be in the world of riches and lavish that she'd been born in. But Zuko-as far as she knew-hadn't been born to that world, he had to fight to survive and that had made him strong.

Biting her lip, she smiled and leaned around so that she could whisper into his burnt ear, breathing softly into it and half wondering if the melted flesh could feel it.

"Thank you" she whispered.

"Um...alright, well you can come to my archery lesson today..." Katara seemed grateful for his interjection. Zuko shot a glance over at Jet whose glare intensified while the young woman bent down to write down an address. He turned back to her when she straightened up to pass him the address. "You're welcome to walk with me if you're off work before I have to go, but if you're not that's the address."

He looked briefly at the address she'd scrawled in cursive. Being cursive, he had a hard time reading it, so he'd look it over in a bit. Zuko lifted his eyes to meet with her's again. Once more, her eyes darted away, and her excited smile faded. However, they didn't completely avoid him.

Her sudden pensive look brought to mind again the question presented by his uncle the night before. What could she possibly get here that she couldn't get at home? Dirty? He gave a mental facepalm at the joke he'd made. It was a rather lame one. Discontinuing this train of thought, he looked at the words scrawled on the paper Katara had handed him. Slowly, he read through the cursive. Hadn't he seen this address before? The familiarity was definitely going to bug him.

By this time, Katara had snapped out of her thoughts and looked back at him. The youth met her gaze and saw her bite her lower lip as she smiled at him. Finally, quite thoroughly startling him, she leaned forward to whisper into his left ear.

"Thank you," Her voice dripped with soothing sincerity, falling on his ear like a beautiful song. And as she pulled away, her cheek brushed the smooth skin of his scar and the feeling of her unblemished skin upon his lingered much longer than it should have. The oddity of the feeling left in the wake of this whisper struck a chord with Zuko. He'd wanted her touch to stay. He'd wanted her to be so close. What did that mean? He'd barely known her for more than a day. How could he cherish her so much already?

The peculiarity of these feelings made him brush them aside and take on a more collected persona. He gave her a businesslike smile and nodded to her in way of answer.

"We'll see what happens, but I've oughta go back to work now," He gestured to the barely touched food, "Feel free to finish the food,"

And he began to walk back to the loading area. He felt kinda bad for just leaving her there, but she was starting to make him feel odd. But honestly, he kinda hoped he could get off work in time to walk with her regardless of what Jet would think.

The smile that Zuko gave her reminded her of the one that she'd given Jet earlier that day, it was the kind of smile that you would only see through if you knew what it looked like. Why did it bother her so that he was directing it on her?

"We'll see what happens", he said lightly, "but I've oughta go back to work now. Feel free to finish the food." And then he was gone, heading back to work and leaving her there.

Katara watched him go, slightly put off by the sudden withdrawn attitude that he gave her. She tried not to let it bother her-which was a tad difficult because her mind was telling her it was because she'd done something wrong; something that had offended him in some way. But she hadn't had she? She hoped not.

Looking down at the barely touched food that sat on the ground almost forgotten, she sat down and brought her sketchpad back into her lap. She sketched in a few lines of Jet the way he'd been standing and looking at them before looking at the food again, tearing the piece of paper out of the little book, she folded it up and set it on her lap to use as a napkin. Then she set her sketchpad down again and returned to the food that Zuko had said she could finish.

The chicken was delicious, even if it was cold. In fact everything was delicious and she smiled at the irony, this food was better than anything that the cooks at her home had ever made. She enjoyed it with fervor and let her mind wander as she ate, recounting the events that had preceded Zuko's sudden withdrawal.

Unconsciously bringing her hand up to the side of her face that had touched his, she focused on remembering the way his skin had felt against hers. It had been very smooth, and surprisingly soft; what had happened for him to get such a scar? She was curious but with the way her questions and statements always seemed to upset him, she decided not to ask the next time she was confronted with him.

Jet openly glared at Zuko as he returned to work but didn't say anything, instead electing to do his work with an attitude. That bastard had taken the first date, he'd moved in and what was worse was that Katara seemed to be accepting him becomingly; she wasn't put off by the Asian's grotesque scar or antisocial attitude or even his temper that she'd witnessed the day before. But she rejected Jet when he was nice to her, handsome and very personable; what was wrong with him? What was wrong with _her_?

Shoving a crate onto the stack, he swore as he caught his finger between it and the one beside it. Zuko asked him if he was okay but the brunette wouldn't accept any quarter, especially from him.

"I'm fine!"

Zuko didn't like where his mind kept going. He didn't like that his eyes kept wandering in the direction of the young woman and that he smiled when she seemed to be enjoying Uncle's food. As for why, it was probably because he couldn't stop himself from looking or smiling, even if he wanted to. Instead, he reminded himself that he'd seen her again later, and that he had a job to do, and an angry gaze to avoid.

A cry of pain soaked with frustration reached Zuko's ear. Jet had caught his finger between two crates.

"Are you okay?" He asked without thinking. He always asked; pinches happened, and had caused some nasty damage to the fingers of more than one dock hand.

"I'm fine!" Jet shouted, his anger clear in his voice. He kicked the nearest crate and started back towards the boat they were unloading.

"Jet," Zuko thought he needed to resolve this, but no sooner than Jet glared back at him did his nerve fade. It would just lead to a fight.

"What?" He asked irately.

"Never mind," Zuko shook his head, trying to drop the conversation.

"No, tell me," Zuko shut his eyes at Jet's reply. He heard the angry young man take a few steps towards him. "If you've got something to say, say it,"

"It's nothing, Jet," Zuko looked back at him with his signature 'back off' look.

"No, it's something." His eyes narrowed, "You wanted to brag about your date with the princess, didn't you?"

"No, I-"

"Don't lie. You've done enough of that today,"

The comment hurt. And telling him that Katara had insisted wouldn't help the situation either. When would Jet learned to back off.

"Back off of it, Jet." He glared at the young man.

"Why? She your girlfriend, yet? I thought she was fair game." Jet kept going, "You said she was this morning,"

"Shut up, all right!" Zuko slammed his hand into the crate for the same unknown reason any frustrated person slams their hand into a solid surface. "I know I told you I'd let you have the first date, but things happen!"

"Things like being a lying, sad excuse for a friend?" Jet teased, a smug look on his face. Zuko let out a cry of frustration and ball his fists. He really wanted to punch Jet.

"She forgot her lunch and I was being nice!"

"You? You've never done a chivalrous act in your life!"

"What about you? You hit on every pretty girl who dares show her face on the docks!"

"At least I have the kind of face that deserves a girl like that!"

"Raargh!" Zuko's policy of trying not to get irritated by comments like that was thrown out of the window. His balled fist slammed into Jet's face. He lay on the ground for a moment and gave a slight laugh before launching himself back at Zuko. His back slammed into a large pile of crates directly behind him, and Jet held him there while he threw a few punches at his face. The Asian gripped Jet's shirt and threw him off and into another stack of crates.

"Zuko!" The young man heard the voice faintly, as if they were running towards the fight. However, the voice barely registered, as Jet jumped back up and threw a kick at his gut. The impact sent him stumbling backwards, and was soon followed by Jet's shadow looming over him.

"You're a horrible person, and a filthy liar!" He shouted insults as he proceeded to kick Zuko before he had time to recover. "A face like that isn't wanted here! You should go back to freaking China!"

"Jet! Stop it!" The voice yelled, it was distraught this time.

Zuko finally managed to get his arms below his body and he launched himself up into Jet's gut with an angry yell. Before much else happened, the two were rolling around on the ground, flurries of punches being passed between them.

"Shut up, you narcissistic drama queen!"

"At least I'm not a disfigured loser!"

"Stop it, you two!"

"Shut up! Just shut up!" Zuko finally managed to get the upper hand and slammed Jet into the ground below him. He brought his fist back to hit the sneering face below him when a different voice was heard.

"What's all this racket!" He recognized the voice of Zhao. The Asian then looked up to see that the other workers had circled around to watch, as was usually done when fights started up. He looked at their faces, some of disappointment that the fight was ending, some of approval for it ending- or for Jet getting what was coming to him. None of them mattered until he caught sight of a female face- one with ice blue eyes.

It then dawned on him who had been yelling at him and Jet to stop all of this time. He looked down at Jet, whose glare dared him to bring his fist down. Zuko defied that and shoved himself up. He stepped back, still breathing heavily from the fight, and looked from face to face. His eyes kept going back to Katara. He felt that, for some reason, that he had let her down.


	3. Chapter 3

The yell had been what had caught Katara's attention; it had brought her eyes up to see Zuko lunge at Jet only to be thrown back after he'd landed one hit and she'd been up and running before she'd thought to get Zhao to help her. And when it was all over, and Zuko was being taken away by Zhao to "discuss this", she stepped into the crowd of dispersing men and came to stand in front of the bloodied Jet, whose pride seemed to be hurt more than he was.

'SMACK'

The sound echoed through the shockingly silent dock yard and Zhao actually stopped to look back when he'd heard it; Katara brought her hand down as Jet looked away from her, his tanned cheek tinged a faint red where her palm had met. Some men had turned to see what the sound had been and while some of those men were laughing at Jet others were cheering for the young woman who'd slapped him. These men parted a pathway for her when she turned to leave.

"There's something wrong with you!", Jet called after her, when she was safe enough distance away where she wouldn't be able to slap him right away; Katara didn't lose a step but instead pretended not to hear him and continued on her way, giving Zuko a glance when she passed him.

Zhao pushed Zuko into his office ahead of him, the glare firmly set on his face as he closed the door behind him, the window that was usually open to the fresh sea air was also closed before he turned upon the asian.

"Mind telling me what that was all about?"

Katara was still sitting at her usual stoop when Zhao was through with Zuko, having not fired him but instead put him on suspension for a week. She looked up at him, at some point she'd packed the remains of his lunch back up, as well as her bag and was simply waiting instead of drawing.

"Zuko" Zhao now loomed over him. Zuko tore his gaze away from Katara and met his gaze defiantly. "I think it's time to meet in my office to…discuss this little incident,"

The older man attempted to put a hand on Zuko's shoulder, but was shrugged away. He moved on towards the small building Zhao used as his office. He got there before Zhao, and felt no guilt in slamming the door in the man's face. A moment later, Zhao, slightly peeved at having the door nearly slap him in the face, entered and sat at his desk. Zuko sat in a chair in front of the desk, slumping with arms crossed, glaring at his boss.

"You want to tell me what the hell that was? You and Jet are usually so chummy." Zhao said with his signature smug smile, the one he used when he was irritated with Zuko and wanted to push a few buttons.

"It wasn't anything," Zuko's glared continued.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with a certain young artist, would it?"

"It's none of your business, Zhao,"

"When two of my employees get into fights while on the job it becomes my problem!" Zhao slammed a fist down on his desk. "Tell me, Zuko. Do I need to take matters into my own hands?"

"I think I'm handling matters just fine." Zuko wanted to blame it all on Jet, but he'd been the one to give in to Jet's taunts. Plus, Jet would eventually convince Zhao that it wasn't his fault anyways. It didn't take much smooth-talking to get Zhao to punish the employee he already didn't like.

"Then your definition of fine must be different from mine," Zhao replied, "Tell me what happened,"

"Jet was just being a jack-ass, alright?" Zuko grumbled, "I must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning cause I can usually ignore him well enough,"

"What reason would he have to antagonize you?" Zhao smirked again, "He only does that to people who are after the same girl as him. Which brings us back to Katar-"

"Leave Katara out of this," Zuko interrupted. Zhao just smirked again and then made a face like he was pretending to ponder something.

"Well, if you won't tell me what really happened, I'll just have to assume she's the issue." He shrugged, "I'll just have to make sure she doesn't come down here anymore. Her mother doesn't like her down here anyways,"

' From what Zhao says, this girl wants for nothing. What is it that the docks give her that she can't get anywhere else?' His Uncle's words ate at him again. They had a habit of doing that from time to time. Katara was down here everyday when she could stay at her nice, cool house where she probably had servants to obey her every whim. Why were the docks so important to her? Even though he hadn't figured that part out yet, he did know that he didn't want to be the reason why she couldn't do what she wanted. And if he told Zhao the truth, that they were fighting because of her, that would surely be the result.

"I started it," Zuko pretended to admit, "He made a comment about my scar without thinking, and I was cranky from lack of sleep. Not to mention I didn't have time to eat lunch; I had to run an errand for my Uncle. He had it coming, he should know better than to insult me on a bad day," He finished it off with a dissatisfied frown, almost as if he wished he could have beaten more 'sense' into Jet.

Zhao looked at Zuko for a moment with a look that said he knew that the boy was lying, but then his dislike for Zuko came into play and he decided it would be more convenient to 'believe' the story. It was plausible, had the circumstances piled up the way they had been described, then Zuko probably would have taken a swing at anyone who'd looked at him wrong. Or, at least, Zhao wouldn't put it past him to do so.

"One week's suspension," He looked coolly at Zuko, standing to look out of the window at a rather stunned Jet, who appeared to be holding his cheek with one hand, with his hands behind his back in a rather military manner. "You and your Uncle can live off of the savings he no doubt has lying around for the next week."

Zuko closed his eyes and flinched as the declaration hit him, almost as if Jet had just hit him again. Uncle Iroh wouldn't be too happy about that one…

"Fine," Zuko spat out, "Can I go now?"

"By all means," Zhao sounded all too happy to say that.

Zuko was all too happy to get the heck out of Zhao's office. He slammed the door behind him and lingered outside for a moment and let out a frustrated cry. He wanted to hit something, but he'd gotten into enough trouble for one day. He looked over to Katara, who was sitting on her stoop with a worried look on her face with all of her things packed up. Was she waiting for him? That's right. They were supposed to walk to her archery practice after he was done with work today. Well, it wasn't like he would be working anymore that day anyways…

The Asian made his way over to her, and as he did so a strange anxiety began to build in him. He wasn't sure exactly why, but he didn't look forward to seeing her look at him with disappointment in her blue eyes.

"Uh, hey," Zuko rubbed the back of his head nervously as he spoke up, "Ready to go?"

"Uh, hey... Ready to go?" Katara stood as if on cue and handed him the bag that held his dishes from his lunch; his eye was slowly swelling and bruises were forming where it was evident that Jet had landed a few good hits; he'd lost the battle against the brunette and she wondered vaguely if he was upset about it. She could remember when she and Sokka had been little and Sokka had come home crying after losing a fight to one of the local boys, a kid named Haru who had become his best friend.

Her palm was starting to bruise a bit too, she'd broken a blood vessel when smacking Jet, but it would no doubt be something he wouldn't soon forget. Glancing at it, she tried to hide it from him and clutched it into the cloth of her satchel.

"I'm sorry..." she said gently, "I am sorry that he said all those things", she hadn't heard too much but what she had been able to hear weren't kind words. 'At least I'm not a disfigured loser!' Jet's voice echoed in her head, bouncing back at her and she wasn't sure why but it had stung to her...maybe that was because she sensed that Zuko was sensitive about that scar. "How did that happen?" she'd said it before she'd had time to think about it and one look at his expression was enough to make her change the subject.

Taking his hand in her bruised one, she winced slightly and started leading the way down the road.

"Jet can be a jerk, can't he...my brother can be the same way..." She could remember a time when Sokka had come home and beaten up a wall after losing a fight to a local boy by the name of Haru; Haru later on became his best friend, but they still got into fist fights. Maybe it was a boy thing.

They headed into town, turned when they got to about the middle of it, walked down the lane that eventually led to her house, it was a rather long walk to be taking every day, but she did it. Turning again when the lane forked she headed down another road that led up to Mei's family's training hall, their house was up the lane from it, in something of a miniature town in the middle of the city. She didn't know much about Mei's neighbors but from what Ty Lee said, they didn't sound very nice; the Agni family that lived next door to Mei and her family sounded particularly foul, the stories that Ty Lee could tell about their daughter would have kept anyone away.

"Ty Lee and Mei don't know you're coming but I don't think they will give you too much trouble..."

Katara stood and handed him the bag that has held his lunch; it was a lot lighter now, so she must've eaten most of the food. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but held it back, fidgeting with her satchel cloth.

"I'm sorry..." The words came out, "I am sorry that he said all those things"

Zuko looked away from her. Why was she apologizing for Jet? Yeah, he'd said some pretty horrible things, but he'd heard all of it before. He hadn't heard some of those since the last time he ran into his sister, but then he'd had Uncle with him. Besides, she was family, and she was a girl. Hitting her was not an option. This coment did bring something else to mind: if she was apologizing for Jet, that must mean she had heard what he said. Zuko felt bad for her having gotten so wrapped up in his own screwed up life.

"How did that happen?" Zuko did a double take before he realized that she wasn't asking about the fight. She wasn't looking at his bruises. She was looking at his scar, and asking questions abut his life again like she'd inadvertently done at lunch. He bit his lip and nearly considered going home right now. He really didn't want to deal with this today, and he was in no shape to be drawn anyways because of the bruises he could feel swelling his good eye closed.

Katara decided for him. She took his hand gently and began to lead the way. Her hand was soft, save for some light callusing on her index and middle fingers. That was easily explained by her drawing and archery hobbies.

"Jet can be a jerk, can't he...my brother can be the same way..." Katara spoke up, but her tone was so endearing that Zuko figured that her brother couldn't be as much of a jerk as Jet. Katara like him too much.

They walked most of the remaining way into the upper class housing district in silence. The day was warm, and the heat felt good on his bruises. He took a mental tally of his injuries; a several big bruises around his waist, a black eye around his good eye, a bruise below his scar on his jaw bone, bruises on his knuckles, and a few scrapes here and there from being tossed around. By the time they'd gotten to a part of town that he recognized, he'd calmed down somewhat.

But that familiarity did nothing to calm him. He knew these houses, this setting. When someone grew up in a neighborhood they typically grew familiar with it. This anxiety grew when they took the turn that led to his ol-, er, his family's home. It didn't help that he'd finally realized why the address Katara had scrawled out for him earlier had looked so familiar: it was the address of the archery facility Mai's family owned.

"Ty Lee and Mei don't know you're coming but I don't think they will give you too much trouble..." Katara said as they approached the path up to on of the facility's entrances.

"Then you must not know Mei that well…" He stopped, eliciting a rather confused look from Katara. He figured he should stop to tell her about Mai before they went inside.

"What are you talking about, Zuko?"

"Katara? Is that you?" A perky voice sounded from the other side of the gate they had been approaching. "Mai! Katara's here, and it sounds like she brought someone with her!"

Zuko's palm collided with his face, an action he quickly regretted due to the instant response from his bruises. _'Would someone cut me some slack!'_

From the look on Zuko's face, Katara immediately got the impression that she'd done something wrong, something about this was amiss and she wasn't sure how to fix it, immediately she ran to the gate and caught it before Ty Lee could come out it and see who the person with her was.

"Ty Lee!" she yelped, her friend nearly running into her as she caught the door and stood in the crack that had been made; the acrobat arched an eyebrow at her friend's strange behavior.

"It's about time you got here" she half scolded Mei was starting to think that you were going to ditch-" Katara cut her off as politely as possible.

"I just came by to tell you I won't be coming to practice, I have a previous engagement..." the acrobat gave her a confused look for a moment before a sly smile came across her lips.

"Why Ms. Katara, do you have a date?" the brunette fought down the urge to smack herself in the face and tried her best not to blush.

"No!"

"You do! Well you don't look too happy about it..." Ty Lee jumped immediately, "is it with Mr. Prissy pants? Because if it is he can't have you! He already gets you on the day of the we-" Katara's bruised hand came down so fast and hard on the young brunette's mouth that she had to bite her lip to fight the yelp of pain that tried to escape her.

"Ty Lee, if you trust me now, I will spend the next three nights at your house and let you tease me over it, but for now I have to go!" the brunette quickly nodded and the other took her hand back, hiding it behind her back, slightly worried that Zuko could see the purple and greening palm. "Don't tell Mai I was here ok?" she said in a lower voice, watching as the acrobat gave a confused look "pretty please?" she begged. Finally Ty Lee conceded and-giving her friend a mischievous smirk-headed back inside where Katara could hear her telling Mai that she'd been mistaken and that it was just a passerby.

She sagged in relief.

"Ty Lee!" Katara surprised Zuko by leaping forward to keep the gate shut.

"It's about time you got here" He heard Ty Lee chide, "Mai was starting to think that you were going to ditch-"

"I just came by to tell you I won't be coming to practice; I have a previous engagement..."

"Why Ms. Katara, do you have a date?" Zuko tensed up, wondering what Katara would do.

"No!" Zuko nearly face-palmed again, but stopped short because he managed to remember the bruises on his face. Why did girls always do that?

"You do! Well you don't look too happy about it...is it with Mr. Prissy pants? Because if it is he can't have you! He already gets you on the day of the we-"

Mr. Prissy Pants? Really? What the- Oh. Katara must've told her friends about his yelling at her yesterday. Nice to know that her friend knew him as 'Prissy Pants'. He vaguely wondered what Mai would think if she found out the identity of Mr. Prissy Pants. Heck, maybe she already knew; after all, she knew that he worked at the docks. It would be just like her to connect the dots.

Katara whispered the next bit, so the Asian only heard mumbles, but the perky girl soon left Katara slumping against the closed gate. Zuko gave her a thankful smile.

"Thank you, Katara. I'll explain once we get away from here," He glanced up the road, in the direction of that place. "If we stick around here, Mai will find out we really were here,"

"Mai! Katara's here, and it sounds like she brought someone with her!" Ty Lee was always a good alarm. Mai could hear her all the way from inside the training building, where it was cool. Rather than go out to meet her perky friend, she strolled over to a nearby drapery. It looked like part of the decoration in her room, but it really concealed a window. It had a nice view of anyone who came up to the side gate, which was usually where Katara entered when she was late.

Katara was at the gate talking to Ty Lee who was trying to open it. That didn't hold her attention for long, though. She recognized Katara's guest immediately, and shock seized her. What was he doing here? She didn't think he'd ever get this close to his old house ever again. And what was he doing with a girl like Katara? Being a dock hand, Katara was way out of his league! But Katara did like it down there; something about being a great place to draw people and life and stuff. Mai was in a rare state of shock.

Mai felt her cheeks grow hot and let out a slightly exasperated sigh. Her lips tightened as well and she just about got the nerve up to go out and confront Katara before Ty Lee's declaration that it was just some passersby forced her to abandon the window and replace the drapery that usually covered it. He'd told Katara something, because they were trying to leave now. Fine, she'd let him leave. He was good at running away from problems anyways. She took a deep breath to calm her voice before calling out to Ty Lee.

"If we wait for her any longer we might as well have not come," She shouted, headed for the door, "Let's just go practice"

They walked in silence almost all the way back to town, not because Katara didn't want to talk to the young man walking beside her, and not because she had questions but instead because she wasn't sure where to start with her questions. Every now and again she glanced at him, her eyes snagging gently on the slightly discolored flesh of his scar and looking past it, it was the scar that had made her want to draw him in the first place-though she would probably never tell him that in light of how sensitive he seemed about it-it was a uniqueness that had made him stick out. His eye for the most part didn't seem damaged and he hadn't made any inclination that it had impaired his vision at all.

She looked ahead of her when he turned to look at her, probably curious as to why she _was _staring at him; why was she staring at him? Why had she covered Ty Lee's mouth like that? It wasn't like it was a secret that she was getting married, but she didn't want Zuko to find out; it was an inevitability yet she wanted to pretend it would never come when she was with him. Ty Lee had started to say 'wedding' and she'd panicked, she hadn't wanted it to be said, hadn't wanted to be reminded that her freedom was only a fleeting dream that she would eventually wake from. A dream that she was more and more desperate to hold onto.

Glancing at the dock hand again out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly felt as though gravity had suddenly increased upon her and she slowed; her time with Zuko-no matter how frustrating or happy-was just a dream...

"What was that all about back there?", she asked, looking up at him with eyes that pleaded for something to get her mind away from the track it was already so dead set on. She was running away from the problem, but she didn't want to face it right now, maybe tonight when she was alone in her room and could cry about it until she finally fell asleep, but right now she didn't want to tarnish what little time she had with Zuko with feeling sorry for herself.

The walk back to town was much like its predecessor, silent. Katara didn't say anything, and Zuko didn't want to say anything until prompted. Talking about Mai opened a door into the more delicate subjects of his life, subjects he'd rather not talk about. He'd never talked to anyone besides his Uncle and Mai about it, and he regretted telling Mai.

Every so often, though, he caught Katara stealing glances at his face. They were curious and fascinated glances, hinted with concern. Some glances were longer than others, too. Finally, Zuko turned his head as if to ask her what was up. Like always, she turned her head forward and a light, rosy blush highlighted her cheeks. Zuko was used to that routine with girls. They would see his face, his scar, and either look away in disgust or stare at him like he was some wounded animal. Katara had proved different thus far, but she still had a fascination with it, a fascination that was more disappointing than expected.

He looked forward toward the horizon. It was impossible to see the ocean through the buildings, but he knew the ocean scene well enough to know what it would look like about now. The sun would be glittering off of its surface happily as if it knew that Zuko thought of it as the only pleasant thing at the docks. But now he was finding himself somewhat in expectation of seeing a certain young woman there…

"What was that all about back there?" He let out a sigh. _Well, she was going to ask sooner or later. You did say you'd explain it to her._

"It's a long story," He found himself avoiding her gaze when he said this, "but Mai is my ex-girlfriend."

For some reason the thought of Zuko datin Mai was disheartening, she wasn't anything like Mai and the idea that he'd been connected to her made her wonder if-under different circumstances-was there a chance of them having been connected in the same way in light of that. Then her mind changed tracks and a memory came back to her, Mai had never been the divulging sort of girl that Ty Lee was, in fact she rather disliked talking about her love life in general, but Katara was sure she'd mentioned dating the son of the Agni family that had been kicked out of his house. She didn't know what the pretenses were, but she remembered thinking that it was a cruel thing to do.

At some point she'd stopped in her tracks and grabbed Zuko's hand to stop him, lost in thought as she mulled it over; this couldn't be the same person could it? But if it was then that would explain why he hadn't wanted to go into the training hall; if she remembered correctly it hadn't ended well. Her bruised hand knotted into the bag that held her sketch book.

"Mai and I have been friends our entire lives, her parents and my parents do business quite a lot so we've had quite a bit of time to spend together." looking up at him slightly, she wondered if it was a wise decision to tell him that Mai had mentioned him but decided that she had to now that she'd started the conversation. So she took a deep breath and continued, "Well a few years ago, she had a boyfriend who was forced to leave home, she didn't tell me why but I was wondering if that was...you?"

They walk a minute more in silence. Once again Katara took his hand, but this time it was to stop him. His gaze went from their hands to her face. Concern was all over her face, and Zuko knew what it meant. He looked away, but he couldn't make himself tear his hand away, not yet. But then Katara spoke.

"Mai and I have been friends our entire lives, her parents and my parents do business quite a lot so we've had quite a bit of time to spend together." Zuko was tempted to look back at her, but he kept his gaze downward, even as Katara paused. He hoped that she'd stop there, but it was a futile hope and she kept going.

"Well a few years ago, she had a boyfriend who was forced to leave home, she didn't tell me why but I was wondering if that was...you?"

Zuko jerked his hand away immediately. He knew that would come up. But how did one answer something so personal? He had only really known Katara for a little over a day, so why should he tell her anything. He clenched his fists as he thought. She didn't seem like the kind of girl to go about blabbing other peoples' secrets. She'd stood up for him against Zhao, and kept him from having to see Mai at a moment's notice…

"Yes," He replied. "My full name is Zuko Li Agni, though I abandoned that title when my father disowned me."

Katara winced as he wrenched away from her and cradled her injured hand slightly as he'd knocked the bruises about a little. He watched her for a long moment, as though caught on deciding fight or flight. Instead he chose admission.

"Yes...my full name is Zuko Li Agni, though I abandoned that title when my father disowned me." His voice was firm and even, it was a painful memory, and again she felt disheartened; this wedding was the only bad thing that had really befallen her in her life, already he had more pain than she knew how to empathize with. But this feeling didn't stand long against the wave of curiosity that overtook her.

Questions raced through her mind, 'why had be been kicked out?', 'Did he still stay in touch with his family?' 'What about his mother?', 'Did that have something to do with his scar?' and 'Who was he living with now?'; but she didn't want to push it, didn't want to push him away with asking too many questions, so instead she smiled gently.

"So what should I call you?", it was a joke that she was hoping he would understand that she meant no harm over; she didn't want him thinking that she thought less of him about it, if he wanted to tell her, he could but she wouldn't force it. After all he hadn't forced anything of herself out of her yet and she rather hoped he wouldn't, they had only known one another for a short time and already she seemed to be botching every encounter.

The moment what he said registered in her ears Katara's expression changed. He could see the shock in her eyes; the same shock he remembered seeing in Mai's eyes when he told her only more readable. Katara's expressions were much more colorful than Mai's ever were, and because of it he could almost read all of the questions that were going through her mind on her face. He was just waiting for one to male it out of her mouth.

But suddenly all of the activity calmed down and she smiled, taking Zuko by surprise.

"So what should I call you?" She asked playfully. He really didn't know how to respond to that. He'd fully been expecting her to being prying into why he was disowned. Taken aback, his eyes widened a bit (his good eye quite a bit more than the other).

"Umm, just Zuko is fine," He gave a slight smile, still a bit thrown off by Katara's unexpected question. How she could have gone from concern to understanding so quickly was beyond him. From the look on her face before, she recognized that she couldn't comprehend what it felt like to be him. The difference between her and Mai is that she wasn't trying to understand; she wasn't pretending that she could ever understand. Most of all, she was respecting that this wasn't something to pry into. For changing the subject, he decided that he'd throw her a bone and tell her a bit more than necessary.

"But I started using 'Li' as my last name instead when I moved in with my Uncle Iroh. You can thank him for the great-tasting lunch. I've never been much of a cook." While he might not have been ready to tell her the gritty details, he didn't mind telling her about the man who was more of a father to him than his real father had ever been.

The girl grinned at the way he spoke of his uncle, there was more endearing in that voice than there had been before when he'd been speaking about his own family; Iroh must've been much more than just an uncle to the boy, more like a father, she could tell by the way he spoke about him. She smiled and nodded at his comment.

"I will be sure to if I ever meet him" she said lightly, "you're lucky to have him..." her voice took a down turn, letting out more of her own sadness than she wanted to; she quickly remedied that by bouncing to another subject. "Well where shall we go? I still owe you a drawing session to be paid for." She said it for mild conversation, distracting from her own plight, she was being selfish and didn't want this dream of hers to end. Honestly at this point she was sure that even if she never ended up drawing him and just ended up sitting and talking to him she would pay him anyway and probably end up giving him more than he expected to earn from this endeavor.

Sokka had always said she was bad with money, giving out tips that were sometimes equal to the original charge; he would complain and she would just tell him that she valued the every day person more than he did. Maybe that was true, but when it was pressed he would always bring in the "well this is why you're engaged to someone that will never have to worry about money..." But it wasn't about the money for her, she didn't want the money, she didn't want the recognition or the family status...she didn't want Aang...

Zuko's change in subject brought a grin to Katara's face. He was glad too; he didn't like to linger on the subject of his family.

"I will be sure to if I ever meet him" she said, "you're lucky to have him..." Her bright tone diminished for a moment, but only a moment. Her bubbly disposition then resumed.

"Well where shall we go? I still owe you a drawing session to be paid for." She had a point. Zuko couldn't help but wonder what continued to cloud her expression. Her change in subject seemed evasive; could she be avoiding something? Once again his uncle's words came to the front of his mind. But this time he had a guess: Maybe there was something at home she didn't want to return to. The question now was 'What could possibly be so bad that girl who wants for nothing would run from it?'

"Well, there's no use in heading back towards the lower districts; I'll have to walk you home anyways. We might as well find some place around here," Zuko thought aloud. It had been so long since he'd been to the richer districts of the city. It had been about a year and a half. He'd finally gotten up the courage to visit Mai at her house: Azula made sure that he regretted it. But there was one place…

"I know it's a bit awkward, but there's a place on the edge of the upper districts; past the turn towards Mai's house. It's an old herbalists' institute run by Old Lady Taku. She used to let Mai and me hang out there…" Zuko ran his fingers through the hair on the back of his head, kind of embarrassed to suggest such a place. But girls like gardens, didn't they?

Katara knew who Old-lady Taku was, she'd babysat her for a long time when Katara was little; that was until she'd outgrown the need for a babysitter, she still dropped by once in a while, but less and less as the garden wasn't a wonderful hiding spot from her mother. She could remember before she'd started going down to the docks, she would go to Ms. Taku's and draw all of the wonderful flowers that she grew, they used to fill her sketchbooks where people and ship scenes now did. One day her mother had found her and had scolded her for being around the old woman when she should have been spending time with the boy she was engaged to. Perhaps that was where her mother thought she was when she was at the docks.

"We will have to pass the lane to my house to get to Ms. Taku's..." she said lightly, "be ready for a run..." he knew she didn't know what she meant by this but she knew and as she took Zuko's hand in hers again and started leading him back up the lane that they'd just come from, she thought about it. If someone was leaving or coming in, they would be spotted; if someone came out or to the lane before they got around the bend in the road where the trees obstructed the view, they would be spotted; and if they were spotted, nothing good would come from it.

Depending on who it was that spotted them a number of bad outcomes were possible; if it was someone that worked with or for her father, they would probably tell her parents and they would send someone to get her and yell at her for it when she got home. If Sokka or Suki saw her, they would chase after her and probably drag her home before telling her parents. If it was her parents...nothing good would come if they were caught, so they would have to be quick and pray that it worked in their favor.

Pausing for a moment when they were in sight of the bend, Katara bent and pulled the over skirt of her dress up to tie around her waist, leaving the petticoat like underskirt in place. The underskirt was much looser around the legs and would make for easier running. Raising her eyes to Zuko's face, she meant to ask him if he were ready but the blush that had seeped over his face caught her off guard for a moment and brought a blush to her cheeks as she for the first time felt subconscious about how unladylike she was being.

"Y-you ready?", her voice stuttered as she released his hand and she hated it, "let's go!" and she was off, not sure if Zuko was following her but realizing he was as he started to pull ahead of her. She grabbed his hand and forced herself to run faster, her mind set on just one slowly approaching goal, that bend of trees. Her legs started to ache, her lungs started to burn and she was almost sure that someone was going to catch them until they finally reached the bend and Katara collapsed against Zuko's chest panting.

"We will have to pass the lane to my house to get to Ms. Taku's..." Katara answered after thinking it over. It wasn't surprising that she knew who the old woman was; she was friends with Mai after all. "be ready for a run..."

Before Zuko could inquire as to why they'd need to run, Katara took his hand and led the back the way they had come. She'd said they'd have to pass the road to her house…would they have to run because she didn't want to be seen? That confirmed his theory that she was avoiding her home, but it just made him more confused as to why she seemed to hate the place. Of course, the reason right now was simple- she didn't want anyone to catch her with a guy like him.

Just a bend of trees came into sight, Katara stopped with a look of grim determination on her face. Much to his surprise, she lifted up her overskirt and tied it about her waist. He immediately averted his gaze even though the underskirt was still there, and he felt his cheeks grow hot. He'd never known a girl of Katara's stature to be so brazen; it just caught him off guard.

"Y-you ready?" Katara said, stuttering as if the reality of what she'd just done had just hit her, "let's go!"

With no more warning than that, she took off running. Zuko yelled out a 'Hey, Wait!' and dashed after her. Katara did not look back, so neither did he. The Asian soon passed Katara in their mad dash to cross the area unseen. Zuko slowed a bit when he felt Katara's hand brush his in an attempt to grab it. Allowing her to do so, he slowed his pace a just bit to make it easier for her to catch up.

He stopped when he was under the shade of the trees and turned to face the panting girl who still clung to his hand. She collapsed face first, breathing heavily, into his chest and lingered there a moment. Zuko's cheeks grew hot once more as he allowed her slightly shaking form to rest there. Without thinking, he spoke.

"Is what's waiting at your house really so bad?" He asked, "I mean, that you have to exert yourself like that just to avoid being seen. It seems like a bit much for someone like you."

Katara rested with her face in Zuko's chest, taking in what she could sense of him; his scent, his heartbeat, the rise and fall of his chest with his own panting breaths. It all seeped into her and synchronized with hers as they stood there hiding in the shade of the bend of trees, pressed together in a rather intimate way that she only half way registered. His voice came soon and the words he spoke hit something inside her, he had seen right through her when most anyone else she was around couldn't; was he really that intuitive? Or was she just that transparent?

She was still slightly panting as she pulled back and shook her head; she tried to stop but trying only hurt so she didn't bother to keep her breathing even.

"H-he's (pant) there, he's always (pant) there and I don't (pant) want to have to see him (pant pant) my mother will make me if she (pant) finds out I'm (pant) not at Mai's..." she knew that he had no idea who he was but at the moment her air deprived brain didn't compute that much. To her, home equaled Aang; home equaled the marriage; home equaled no more freedom and propriety and everything in the world that disagreed with her. Glancing up at him an odd thought occurred to her that stopped every gear in her mind from working, home also meant no more Zuko; home meant she could no longer see this fascinating puzzle of a boy that was slowly starting to fill up her mind after just a couple days of knowing him.

Realizing her over skirt was still tied around her waist though it had slightly fallen during her sprinting; she reached and started fumbling with the knot that was angled about at her belly button on the bodice, vaguely wondering what he thought of her for tying it up in the first place. The over skirt fell and she took his hand again.

"Come on...I'll explain at Ms. Taku's..."

Ten minutes of walking later they were sitting in the old herbalist's greenhouse, surrounded by rare flowers and herbs of all kinds; their sheer diversity had been one of the reasons that Katara had liked to draw them so much. Taking a deep breath, she started explaining, it was a long story; or rather a very complicated short one…


End file.
